Lester’s bravado was shattered by the impact of the clawed fist as it hammered down onto the back his right hand, where his thumb and index finger came together. The snapping of several bones was audibly evident and left his fingers hanging in an unnatural position. Lester’s eyes rolled back into his head, as he began to pass out from the pain.

Suddenly, a strange hum filled the air and Lester’s vision began swirling in a corkscrew fashion.

“Stay with me, Lester, we’re not through yet…”

The hypnotic sensation kept him lucid long enough for the overwhelming pain to bring the contents of his stomach up and into his lap.

The monster stood before him, as the hum emanated from the palm of its left hand and strange lights flashed from the right. Lester weaved back and forth in a trance before sagging forward, and falling unconscious.

***

When Lester awoke again, he was comforted by the familiar darkness that met his eyes.

“M-must have been a nightmare… yes, a nightmare…” he muttered aloud to himself.

Within seconds, a sharp series of pains shot up his right arm. He turned his head to look and felt something stiffen on the left side of his face, as if it were covered in a dried liquid. He could barely make out his right hand, which hung limply from his wrist over the end of the chair’s arm. His attempt to move the hand sent pain screaming through his mind in blinding white flashes.

“Ohhhh, pl-please, make it stop…” Lester whimpered, as he realized his nightmare was real.

“Tell me where she is, Lester, and I’ll set you free.”

“*#&$ you!” Lester blurted in anger. “She’s mine!”

Once again the now familiar hum filled the room and crimson light shone up from the floor. Lester’s eyes rose with the light as he took in the sight of a demon, which towered above him, bent over double in order to fit below the room’s raftered ceiling. Its claws gleamed in the bloody light, reaching outward for Lester’s very soul.

As the creature’s jaws opened Lester felt himself being drawn in again, as he peered into the depths of hell itself, where damned souls cried out for mercy. Their screams sent shivers of terror undulating over Lester’s flesh until he could take no more. As the creature’s jaws opened Lester felt himself being drawn in again, as he peered into the depths of hell itself, where damned souls cried out for mercy. Their screams sent shivers of terror undulating over Lester’s flesh until he could take no more.

“The old stock room! She’s under the store, in the old stock room. It was supposed to be a bomb shelter, but after the war, I converted it. She’s there… please… p-please don’t hurt me anymore…”

Lester’s voice trailed off into a stream of sobs as the abomination loomed closer.

“Thank you, Lester Ginn,” it responded in a deep, unearthly voice.

“What are you? A demon?”

“No Lester Ginn, I am His Death Angel,” the creature replied calmly. “And now, you must reap what you have sown…”

“No! I told you where she was! No! Get back! GET BACK!!”

Lester’s cries rang out through the room, heard only by the bodies that hung from the ceiling. They mocked him with their uncaring stares as the creature’s obsidian wings spread out, blocking the last moments of Lester Ginn’s life from their view.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO-kra-aKK-AIIIIIII!!!!”

***

“…she was there, Chief,” sergeant Raymond reported to his commander. “Just like the note said she’d be. Poor thing is scared out of her mind, but she’s at the County General, with her parents. Looks like he like he did a number on her.”

“What is all this? Any idea?” Raymond asked.

“I’ve seen some strange things in my day, Raymond, but this takes the cake. Twelve mannequins, strung up from the rafters, execution style. One holding a note, like a jury’s verdict card. One perv, tied to a chair and broken into so many pieces his skeleton looks like a flippin’ jigsaw puzzle.”

“What about the other kid, at his house?”

“We got her too,” Raymond replied. “And we uncovered several sets of remains, including a fresh set from an adult, all dolled up like they was goin’ to a fancy party or somethin’.”

“What else?” the Chief asked, as he started around the crime scene incredulously.

“Looks like he’d been at this for about a year. From the pictures and notes we found, I’d say these two were really lucky whoever left us that note came forward. Makes me sick just thinking about what he did to the other ones before he killed ‘em.” “Looks like he’d been at this for about a year. From the pictures and notes we found, I’d say these two were really lucky whoever left us that note came forward. Makes me sick just thinking about what he did to the other ones before he killed ‘em.”

“What’s wrong, Chief? You look confused.”

“I’m glad someone nailed this scumbag, and I ain’t saying he didn’t have it coming, but whoever did this to him sure has a mean streak and knows what they’re doing. The medical examiner said each one of the bone breaks was right below a nerve cluster… targeted to inflict the most pain. Based on the mess all over his pants, this guy went through the wringer.”

“Maybe he crossed the wrong guy, messed with the wrong kid. I know if he did that to my lil girl, I’d be tempted…”

“That’s what gets me though. There’s no signs of a scuffle here. Not really any evidence left behind at all besides this puppet jury, which, frankly creeps the hell outta me. Mark my words, this wasn’t a crime of passion, Raymond. This was decisive, deliberate… surgical. There was no emotion here. This wasn’t someone gettin’ revenge… it was this jerkoff’s judgment day.”

“Well, just be glad he’s off the streets, right? Now c’mon, let’s get outta here so’s forensics can do their job.”

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